Nursing salaries vary by urban and rural regions in the state.
Registered nurses (RNs) help doctors take care of patients by recording medical histories, performing diagnostic tests and providing treatment. About 60 percent work in hospitals. Three educational options are available: a nursing program certificate, an associate degree or a bachelor's degree. As with all states, California requires RNs to pass the National Council Licensure Examination to receive a nursing license.
State
The 233,030 RNs in California have a mean salary of $40.90 per hour or $85,080 per year as of May 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is greater than the mean wages of the 656,080 workers in the health care practitioner group, which runs $39.85 per hour or $82,880 per year. (This group includes medical professionals such as doctors, nurses and dentists.) The RN salary is not quite double the mean pay of all 14.53 million workers in the state, which is $23.82 per hour or $49,550 per year.
Northern California
San Francisco, located in Northern California, has 15,130 RNs. The city's higher cost of living boosts salaries to a mean $47.55 per hour or $98,900 per year, which is higher than the state mean for the profession. The city RN salaries are also greater than the mean wages for the 38,780 health care practitioners, which run $44.76 per hour or $93,100 per year. They are also greater than the mean $29.78 per hour or $61,940 per year earned by all of the 982,930 workers in the city.
Southern California
In more populated Southern California, Los Angeles has 61,270 RNs who earn a mean $38.99 per hour or $81,100. These amounts are slightly under the state mean. But they are only slightly more than the mean $38.03 per hour or $79,110 per year made by the 175,960 health care practitioners of L.A. And they are far greater than the mean $23.56 per hour or $49,010 per year made by the city's 3.96 million workers.
Rural
As an example of rural California, the Mother Lode Region runs from the central to the northern part of the state and contains 720 RNs that earn a mean $40.34 per hour or $83,900 per year. This is slightly under the mean $42.39 per hour or $88,180 per year earned by the region's 2,190 health care practitioners. However, it is almost double the mean $20.61 per hour or $42,870 per year earned by all of the region's 42,860 employed individuals.
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